Gregory and her partner and husband, Denis Petukhov, were performing a rotational lift, when he lost his grip. She fell straight down to the ice, landing on her chest, while Petukhov went sliding into the boards. The rotational lift is one of the harder dance moves in which the lifter rotates in one direction while skating across the ice.

Italian ice dancers Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte were the first ones to reach Gregory, quickly stopping their warm-up to help their fallen competitors. Medical personnel then came onto the ice, and Gregory was put on a stretcher and taken to L'Enfant-Jesus Hospital, a well-known trauma center located 10-15 minutes away from the Colisee Pepsi.

Once at the hospital, Gregory underwent a series of tests, including a CT scan, which showed her head and neck to be clear. She was discharged from the hospital later that afternoon and returned to the hotel to rest.

"Basically, she feels like a truck hit her," said coach Priscilla Hill, who had to watch in tears as her pupil was taken from the arena on an immobilized backboard.

Gregory's neck is sore, and she has several cuts and bruises on her hip. Petukhov's neck and hip are also sore from his part of the fall. The couple still has not set a timetable for their return to skating, but Hill does not believe they will stay off the ice for long.

"I was dropped from a lift when I did pairs, and I had a similar thing with the hip. It took me about a week, although [my injury] was a chipped hip bone. It was tender there for a while," Hill said. "They need a week to let their bodies heal."

The team's next scheduled appearance in the ISU Grand Prix Series is the Cup of Russia, Nov. 22-25, in Moscow. Their status for that event is still uncertain.